Pushing high angular resolution and high contrast observations on the VLTI from Y to L band with the Asgard instrumental suite: integration status and plans

Marc-Antoine Martinod; Denis Defrère; Michael J. Ireland; Stefan Kraus; Frantz Martinache; Peter G. Tuthill; Fatmé Allouche; Emilie Bouzerand; Julia Bryant; Josh Carter; Sorabh Chhabra; Benjamin Courtney-Barrer; Fred Crous; Nick Cvetojevic; Colin Dandumont; Steve Ertel; Tyler Gardner; Germain Garreau; Adrian M. Glauser; Xavier Haubois; Lucas Labadie; Stéphane Lagarde; Daniel Lancaster; Romain Laugier; Alexandra Mazzoli; Anthony Meilland; Kwinten Missiaen; Sébastien Morel; Daniel J. Mortimer; Barnaby Norris; Jyotirmay Paul; Gert Raskin; Sylvie Robbe-Dubois; J. Gordon Robertson; Ahmed Sanny; Nicolas Schuhler; Owain Snaith; Adam Taras

arXiv · 2407.08431

Pushing high angular resolution and high contrast observations on the VLTI from Y to L band with the Asgard instrumental suite: integration status and plans

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Abstract

ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer has a history of record-breaking discoveries in astrophysics and significant advances in instrumentation. The next leap forward is its new visitor instrument, called Asgard. It comprises four natively collaborating instruments: HEIMDALLR, an instrument performing both fringe tracking and stellar interferometry simultaneously with the same optics, operating in the K band; Baldr, a Strehl optimizer in the H band; BIFROST, a spectroscopic combiner to study the formation processes and properties of stellar and planetary systems in the Y-J-H bands; and NOTT, a nulling interferometer dedicated to imaging nearby young planetary systems in the L band. The suite is in its integration phase in Europe and should be shipped to Paranal in 2025. In this article, we present details of the alignment and calibration unit, the observing modes, the integration plan, the software architecture, and the roadmap to completion of the project.

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Marc-Antoine Martinod, Denis Defrère, Michael J. Ireland, Stefan Kraus, Frantz Martinache, Peter G. Tuthill, Fatmé Allouche, Emilie Bouzerand, Julia Bryant, Josh Carter, Sorabh Chhabra, Benjamin Courtney-Barrer, Fred Crous, Nick Cvetojevic, Colin Dandumont, Steve Ertel, Tyler Gardner, Germain Garreau, Adrian M. Glauser, Xavier Haubois, Lucas Labadie, Stéphane Lagarde, Daniel Lancaster, Romain Laugier, Alexandra Mazzoli, Anthony Meilland, Kwinten Missiaen, Sébastien Morel, Daniel J. Mortimer, Barnaby Norris, Jyotirmay Paul, Gert Raskin, Sylvie Robbe-Dubois, J. Gordon Robertson, Ahmed Sanny, Nicolas Schuhler, Owain Snaith, Adam Taras. 2024-07-11. Pushing high angular resolution and high contrast observations on the VLTI from Y to L band with the Asgard instrumental suite: integration status and plans. https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.08431

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